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A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge is a 1985 American slasher film and the second film in the Nightmare on Elm Street film series. The film was directed by series star Jonathan L. Dee (who returns as Freddy Krueger), Mark Patton, Kim Myers and Robert Rusler. It is the sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street and is followed by A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Plot In 1975, Freddy Krueger is being released from police custody after a hearing in regard to the admissibility of evidence. The judge reluctantly is forced to throw out all the evidence against Krueger due to a typo on the search warrant. Freddy is pleased with this turn of events, but is threatened by the District Attorney who vows to stop him. Freddy tells him "In his dreams..." Five years have passed since Freddy Krueger was defeated and the Walshes have moved into the Thompsons' former home. The teenaged son Jesse has a recurring nightmare about being stranded on a school bus with two girls being stalked by a violent killer, waking in terror and attributing the dream to the unusual heat in the room. He goes to school with his friend Lisa, who Jesse has a crush on but is too shy to make a move. After getting into a fight with a boy named Grady during gym, Coach Snider punishes them by making them stay after class and they casually become friends. In 1975, with all the parents furious over Freddy's release come together to find him and make him pay. Officer Donald Thompson refuses to go along with the growing mob, but when his six year old daughter Nancy turns up missing, he quickly pursues Freddy who is the prime suspect... Lisa comes to visit Jesse after school one day and they discover a diary from Nancy Thompson detailing nightmares she had that were strikingly similar to Jesse's. After various incidents and small fires happen around the house, Lisa takes Jesse to an abandoned factory where Fred Krueger worked, but they find nothing there. The following night, Jesse has a nightmare encounter with Freddy Krueger in bed with his mother, patting her pregnant stomach. Suggesting that the child will be a girl, not his first choice, but "Beggars can't be choosers." The nightmare ends with Freddy gutting Jesse's mother and Jesse being thrown from the house by supernatural means. The restful night is broken with Jesse being escorted home by police after wandering the streets naked, his parents begin to suspect that Jesse may be on drugs, or mentally disturbed. The following night, Jesse tries to relax by going to a pool party hosted by Lisa and passionately makes out with her in the cabana. But his body begins to uncontrollably change on him, and in panic, Jesse leaves. In 1975... Freddy is hiding from the unruly mob in an abandoned factory, at the same time trying to dispose of evidence that has not been located. He quickly finds himself surrounded and locks himself in a room. Pleading innocence, Donald Thompson demands the return of his daughter and Freddy claims to know nothing about it. With Freddy refusing to leave his locked sanctuary, the mob throw improvised Molotov cocktails into the room, setting him on fire and revealing Freddy is wearing a striped red and green sweater under his work clothes... Jesse finds himself in the same factory, in a daze, and encounters the specter of Freddy standing in the shadows. Freddy reveals his plan to kill the soul of Jesse's soon-to-be-born baby sister and come alive again. Jesse vows to stop him, but Freddy only laughs. Then he indicates to an open door. Jesse approaches and realizes that beyond it is Grady's bedroom. Grady is sleeping and Jesse runs to defend him from Freddy's impending attack. Grady awakens to the traumatized Jesse and then Freddy slips out from behind a door. Jesse can only watch as Freddy brutally stabs Grady to his bedroom door, killing him and Jesse awakens from his daze, apparently framed for Grady's murder. He flees before Grady's parents can get in. Returning to Lisa's house, Jesse tells her what is going on. Lisa realizes that Jesse's terror is giving Freddy his strength, but he can't stop fearing him and can't stop Freddy from going after his sister. Noticing on the TV that Jesse is now the prime suspect in the murder of Grady, Lisa takes Jesse somewhere to hide. Learning from his father that his mother has gone into labor, Jesse asks Lisa to take him the factory. Jesse, feeling that Freddy is actually haunting the site, allows himself to fall asleep to confront him. Jesse and Freddy begin a dream duel, where the angrier Jesse gets, the stronger he is against Freddy's attacks. When Lisa suddenly appears (having accidentally knocked herself out) Jesse is vulnerable and agrees to stay out of his way as Freddy prepares to assume the baby's body. In the real world Cheryl Walsh's pregnancy begins to take a turn for the worse, an indicator of Freddy's attempts. Lisa pleads to Jesse to fight Freddy, but his hold is too strong. Only when Lisa confesses her love for Jesse does he decide he can't allow Freddy to succeed. They fight once again and taking a cue from Nancy's diary, Jesse pulls Freddy into the real world by waking himself up. Freddy is unhappy about being back and despite a good effort, is beaten by Jesse and set ablaze again. Freddy combusts and turns to ash, as Jesse wakes up Lisa. The police arrive to take him in custody and he surrenders willingly. Later that night Jesse is released thanks to an alibi from Lisa and a meeting with Donald Thompson. It is hinted that he believes Jesse's story about Freddy. Jesse and Lisa go to the hospital and he's reunited with his family, including his new baby sister. In 1975... it is soon revealed to Donald Thompson that his daughter Nancy was not with Freddy and he killed the man in cold blood... In the film's epilogue Jesse, Lisa and Carrie are taking the bus from school, Jesse begins to notice similarities to his original nightmare and panics. After Lisa finally calms Jesse down, Carrie says it's "All over" before Freddy's clawed arm suddenly bursts through her stomach. Freddy's laughter is heard as the bus goes driving out into the field as in the first nightmare, and the screen goes dark. Cast *Mark Patton as Jesse Walsh *Kim Myers as Lisa Webber *Jonathan L. Dee as Freddy Krueger *Robert Rusler as Ron Grady *Clu Gulager as Ken Walsh *Hope Lange as Cheryl Walsh *John Saxon as Lt. Donald Thompson/Officer Donald Thompson *Christie Clark as Angela Walsh *Melinda O. Fee as Mrs. Webber *Tom McFadden as Eddie Webber *Sydney Walsh as Kerry Production Upon the success of the first film, New Line Cinema immediately began work on creating a sequel. Ideas were thrown about by the producers and finally they settled on a story by David Chaskin. New Line's first problem came when Nightmare series creator Wes Craven refused to work on this film because he never wanted or intended A Nightmare on Elm Street to become an ongoing franchise (and even wanted the first film to have a happy ending), and also because the movie changed the premise of the first film with Freddy deciding to attack people in the waking world, rather than avoiding this in favor of killing people in their dreams. Craven also said that he did not like the idea of Freddy manipulating the protagonist into committing the murders. The second problem came from Jonathan L. Dee who hated the script and (reflecting the thoughts of Wes Craven) hated the idea of Freddy trying to leave the dream world. With the loss of Wes Craven, producer Robert Shaye was desperate for his return in the role, and agreed to Dee's proposal to re-write the screenplay to his satisfaction. Dee returned a new script in ten days and with a request by Dee to direct the film, production was underway within a month. Hoping to shed some light on the character and keep himself out of the extensive make-up, Dee fashioned a script from the original that contained flashbacks to Freddy's origins. He changed the original story of Freddy wishing to posses Jesse to kill in the real world, and altered his motivations to desire a chance to live again in a new body instead. John Saxon was brought back from the first film to play Nancy's father and shed some light on Nancy's parents connection to Freddy's murder. Reaction Box Office In 1985, the film opened in just 614 theaters, making $2.9 million in its opening weekend coming in 4th place. Domestically, the film has made $30 million, making it another huge success on a budget of only $3 million. Critical Reception The film's critical reception was mixed. Much of the criticism of Freddy's Revenge was aimed at the fact that the film, while continuing the storyline of its predecessor, took a completely different direction in Freddy's desire to be re-born in that of a newborn baby. See also *List of ghost films References External links * * * * *[http://nightmareonelmstreetfilms.com/site/films/a-nightmare-on-elm-street-2-freddys-revenge/ A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge] at Nightmare on Elm Street Companion Category:1985 horror films Nightmare on Elm Street 2 Nightmare 2 Category:American LGBT-related films Category:Films set in 1986 Category:Sequel films Category:Films directed by Jonathan L. Dee Category:1985 films Category:1987 films Category:1987 horror films Category:Directorial debut films Category:Mental illness in fiction Category:Films about revenge Category:Films directed by Chuck Russell Category:Films set in 1988 Category:Films set in psychiatric hospitals Category:Screenplays by Frank Darabont Category:Film scores by Angelo Badalamenti